10 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, December 16, 2016
art Photos/shawn hanna
Joie Lamare serves customers at Bahamas Hand Prints’ Holiday Sip n’ Shop.
Prints stand the test of time By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net
W
hile the team at Bahama Hand Prints have been celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary throughout this year, the owners were still excited to host a Holiday Sip ‘n Shop on Saturday when they invited locals to join them to continue the festivities. Patrons enjoyed mimosas and refreshments while browsing the store’s gift ideas for the holiday season, from ladies, men and children’s clothing to napkins, placemats, dish towels, pillow covers, bags and accessories collections. Bahama Hand Prints was established in 1966 by artists Helen Astarita and Berta Sands and “is recognised to this day for its hand printed fabric, dazzling colours and brilliant designs that capture the beauty and culture of the Bahama islands” according to its Facebook site.
Today the business, now located on Ernest Street, is managed by partners Linda Brown and Joie Lamare. “We are continuing the tradition of screen printing that they started 50 years ago,” Joie told Tribune Weekend. “We are still operating with the original printing tables and we still print many of their beautiful designs that they created back then. Linda and I have owned the company for 15 plus years now.” She was delighted to display their designs at the Holiday Sip ‘n Shop, the majority of which were created on site. “We produce everything from the start of printing all the fabric to the making of all the garments and household products. Everything but our straw work and bags are produced on sight,” said Joie. The businesswoman is amazed that they were able to keep such an institution going for so long and privileged to have something like this exist in the Bahamas today. She believes Bahama Hand Prints is really as authentically Bahamian as you will find as it relates to producing fabric in an artisanal way.
The factory includes a dark room where new designs can be transferred onto screens and made ready to print onto fabric. Using the traditional hand screen printing technique, plain fabric is transformed by Dylan Rapillard into richly coloured ‘artwork’ which is then heat-treated in a special dryer to make it colourfast. As well as the newly introduced acrylic outdoor fabric that is 100 per cent acrylic, the company prints on natural fibres such as cotton, linen and cotton-linen blends and all of the inks are water-based and environmentally friendly. Bahama Hand Print also sells custom print to customers specifications for home or office décor, including fabric for draperies, bedding, cushions, throw pillows and furniture upholstery. “We have been celebrating since the beginning of the year with different promotions. We were fortunate to be put out on display at the airport and we have ran various campaigns with this being the final hooray, our way of thanking all of our wonderful customers that have supported us throughout these 15 years that we have been operating the busi-
ness. We have had many memorable feedbacks but, honestly, I think the most positive thing is how grateful everyone is to be able to buy such beautiful product that is actually made right here. “Like every country when you travel to that place you look for something that you can identify with and we have definitely become a destination for many tourists and also for our local based clientele that looks to take a beautiful piece of the Bahamas when they are offering gifts,” said Joie. The business has grown significantly during the last few years, expanding its range of products and wholesaling to local high-end retailers such as Andeana Designs, Windermere Spa (Lyford Cay), Goodfellow Farms, The Linen Shop, The Beauty Spot, Blue Rooster (Harbour Island) and Rose Manor (Governor’s Harbour). Joie’s advice to young entrepreneurs is to always persevere and take baby steps in order to one day take a giant leap. “I truly didn’t know what we were stepping into, but no regrets, it has been an amazing journey and we just want to keep it going,” she said.